The past weekend was another feeding frenzy in St. Petersburg. Friday, I was at Primi Urban Cafe, (frequently mentioned in this blog), with Frank, John, and Marsha. Since my last visit, there was a change of ownership, but so far, it has not impacted the service, or the quality of the food. The chef and wait staff remain from the previous ownership. Sunday, (I will return to Saturday in a minute), found me at Patty Burke's, the Irish pub down the street, with my friend and 15 minutes of fame addict, Bob. That evening, Frank and I stopped at Red Mesa Cantina for a drink and a couple of their delicious soft tacos - always a good choice. But the real food highlight of the weekend I must say, was Saturday evening. Our good friends, Paul and Libby (see "Paul & Libby's World of Travel" link to the left), came all the way from Pasco County for dinner at Bistro 523, my fictitious restaurant. Paul and Libby provided a three course appetizer of mixed crostini. Frank, the salad expert, prepared an Asian Pear and Arugula salad (a la Food & Wine magazine), and I fixed a simply wonderful (forgive my boasting), Pan Seared Sea Bass with Endives and Grapes, also from Food & Wine. When I first saw the recipe, I wasn't sure how the combination of ingredients would blend together, but they were great. There was the saltiness of bacon, the bitterness of the endives, the sweetness of the grapes, all combined with the seared, flaky bass. While I feel somewhat guilty about eating sea bass, due to it being over-fished, I stuck with the recipe recommendation. If you want to try the recipe, click HERE to link to the Food & Wine site. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I fixed Lemon Panna Cotta with Red Raspberry Coulis for our dessert. Yum...
That's all I'm Saying
2 comments:
OK. My apologies. I did miss the reference to me. Thanks. :-)
He's really not boasting. The sea bass dish was, upon careful reflection, the single best fish entree that I've eaten... (yes, I have this strange tendency to keep a ruuning list of the "best [insert here] ever" in my mind). My prior "best fish ever" was at Alana's in Columbus, OH (highly recommended if you're in Columbus)-- that was a simple pan-seared rainbow trout, cooked to perfection. However, Dick's effort wins because the dish was both extremely creative/unusual and perfectly executed.
Bravo!
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